March 30 - April 5
wiredkell
Posts: 704 Member
A quick good morning to you all just to start the thread 
I'll be back later to post.
I'll be back later to post.
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Good morning! Sorry I didn't come back to post yesterday. Honestly, I had the time, as we all do now, but I didn't have anything to say
I worked all day, watched TV shows, tried to stay away from too much news, but watch enough so I know what's happening out there, made spaghetti squash and chicken breast for supper and then watched the Tiger show on Netflix with Shawn. That was mostly my day. Seems like I'm on repeat everyday, just like Ground Hog Day. But when I think about it I did other positive things too.. I sat outside in the sun and away from the chilly wind for a half hour with my coffee and my dog. I did a workout. I texted with my best friend. I did some cleaning. I played some games on my phone.
Today is my last day of my shift, so I only work until 12:30 and then I'm done until next Tuesday. The weather is supposed to get blah starting tomorrow.. rain and snow.. yuck, so I'll have to get out for a walk today. I haven't gone for my walk in 2 days and I miss it.
As of yesterday, we're at 96 cases in our province now. 4 in hospital, 1 in critical condition and 1 that has passed away. This is now in all areas of our province, north and south. New orders came down from our provincial government yesterday that non-critical businesses will have to close from April 1 to at least April 14. Luckily because Shawn is in manufacturing, his job isn't affected. Grocery stores and gas stations can stay open but they have to prove they are practicing the physical distancing. Our federal government made a huge announcement yesterday saying that in an effort to stop businesses from laying people off, they are going to provide a wage subsidy for everyone up to 75% of their wage as long as the business can prove that they have lost at least 30% in revenue. If someone has already been laid off, they are expected/hoping to hire them back. It also applies to every business, small or large. This will help out soo many people.
Looking forward to hearing how everyone is doing.0 -
Sorry to have not made it back after my post vanished. I kind of chuckled, Kelly, when I saw your "I had the time, as we all do now." All does not include those of us in Public Health. I worked yesterday from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m., and then from 9 p.m. until midnight I did personal paperwork that had to be completed and filed by today or I'd lose my flex spending money. So I got no exercise at all yesterday. If we were being paid for our time, I'd be rich , but I'm salaried, so it is what it is. I just try to remember that some of my coworkers are trying to work full time, home school kids, or take care of elderly relatives. Hubby has been doing all of our food shopping and then going through all the steps to sanitize what he brings in. He also does the cooking. So if I'm in uber-work mode, at least I get fed.
The DC metro area, which includes my Maryland suburb, now has almost 3000 cases. Yesterday our Governor issued even stricter stay-at-home rules, and the fee for violating them can be as high as $5000. People are just not doing what they need to do voluntarily. We were still seeing groups of teens cutting though our street to go play basketball. And they are nowhere near 6 feet apart. But I'm happy that so far, the only person we know personally who has developed COVID, is my coworker/friend's Mom who passed away last week in Georgia.
Most of the weekend here was cold and rainy, but Friday night, we did my hilly 3 mile route before the rain set in, and we went again late Sunday afternoon after it cleared. Hopefully tonight I can make up a little for sitting all day yesterday, although it's looking pretty gloomy out there.
I think the real challenge for me is just being able to focus and get work done effectively so I can spend more time away from my desk. The fact that hubby focuses on food because (a) he's diabetic and (b) it's what loves to do, makes it a little hard on me to watch the intake. Yesterday, he smoked a huge number of baby-back ribs on our "egg" grill and then he shared some of them with neighbors. He sent texts that they were coming and then left them wrapped in heavy-duty foil on their steps. Had some happy neighbors!
Saturday night, we were able to video chat with a group of friends, and tonight, we're doing that with one of our groups of volunteers. It helps to see faces and hear voices, as I know you're also finding with your families and friends. I spoke to my sister night before last, and she sounded much better, so I drew a big sigh of relief. That "bug" she said she had last week had me very concerned. Hubby was also down all day on Saturday. He was nauseated all day, and terribly so, but had no other symptoms, Sunday, he woke up feeling fine. So I think that was his IBS showing up in a little different "outfit."
I loved, loved, loved, logging in the other night and seeing posts from all three of you. What a treat during this time. I hope we can all find time to post a little more often. Glad that so far it sounds like everyone and their families are okay. This too will pass, but not soon enough!0 -
Ugh.. they just closed K-12 schools indefinitely in our province. We'll get our number report at 1:00pm. My guess is we break 100 today for the province but we'll see.
My comment about us having the time was more so in that we don't have the excuses we normally have such as going out and not being at home in order to post. Of course work is still just as busy for me, if not more so because its just difficult to work from home. Definitely hard to focus as Sarah mentioned. And now.. we're going to have the kids around all day long, so that'll make it even more difficult. We're going to have a family meeting with the kids and their Mom to set out the expectations so they understand this isn't just an extended break.0 -
Kelly - AZ closed the brick and mortar schooling for the remainder of the year. They are going to online classes for the duration. My DIL is a teacher and is in meetings daily to get their online practices dialed in to resume next week. My son is also working from home and Rhea is just an 18 month old who wants attention when they are around. I'm continuing to work from home and hubby can be challenging at times. I get so focused and when he interrupts, he gets offended by my response, but like the kids Kelly, I'm not on vacation...I have work to do. And I'm exhausted when I log off at the end of the day. However, my "walking to/from work" really helps me mentally - I'm not reaching 10k steps/day but it just feels good to move. I have my trainer via Zoom this evening so TRX in my hallway tonight.
I'm also not keeping up on the number of cases and such, I'm praying all of this social distancing and such is over soon so that businesses can get back on the road to recovery. I'm so over this, but I'm striving to avoid the news - not necessarily head in the sand, but it's so easy to have all of the data be so all-consuming. My son and Rhea just came by to pick up tp and paper towels and some other stuff. Thankfully Rhea was asleep in the car seat as I was worried about her getting anxious as I can't hold her yet and I didn't want to cause her confusion of why she couldn't get out of her car seat and come and play. My son's work had a worker who was ill over a week ago and he has until Saturday to get through the period. With my asthma and such both of my kids are afraid for me...I'm not too concerned, but they are. Hubby is still working to figure out how to do his martial arts training by video...he's somewhat reluctant and thankfully it's the same few kids who are showing up for the class and that's their only time to escape their home. This is a hot topic for us.
Also AZ goes into shelter in place tonight - with so many exceptions it's kinda silly actually. However, I do work for a homebuilder so our company has prepared letters for us to carry should it get more intense and crazy.0 -
Hi, Ladies. Hope I didn't sound like I think I'm the only person working, and like I said, I know it's harder when there are children at home.
It's hard to imagine this going on for several more weeks. Hubby had a sty on his eye a few weeks ago--before the shutdown. And he was able to get to the eye doctor and get it checked and get some drops. Now, I'm developing what I think is a sty too, and I'm a bit nervous that getting it taken care of will be a bit of chore, if it comes to that. For a few days, the skin under my eye was sore, but today, there's a definite knot in there.
Hubby uses a small privately owned community pharmacy that my insurance will not let me use. He had to run by there today, and he said the pharmacist was hot mad! He said people are coming into the shopping center and when they find the stores and restaurants closed, they come into his small shop and just walk around and touch things! He really has few items to buy. It's truly just a place to get prescriptions filled. What are people thinking? Hubby went in in gloves and a face mask and got out as quick as he could.
Lois, it's great you can do your training by zoom. Don't you wish you had bought stock in zoom a few months ago? LOL
Mentioning zoom, my meeting starts in 10 minutes, so I guess I'd better get downstairs.0 -
LW: 141.4
TW: 141.8
Such a sad morning. We woke up to the news that our friend with ovarian cancer died at 5:30 a.m. She actually lasted about 3 weeks longer than expected when they let her go from the hospice center back home. Because of coronavirus, no one outside the family has been able to visit. Had her husband gotten sick, it would have been devastating. Such a reminder to enjoy life every day and not sweat the little things so much.
I am still holding my breath hoping that I don't get deployed (virtually--not physically) to the COVID emergency response. And on a lighter note, it's a good thing work is virtual now. I have one of those haircuts that is full of layers and needs frequent trims. I'm already a week past my regular haircut and I'm beginning to look pretty shaggy. I can't imagine what I'll look like in another month! My hairdresser had a kidney transplant and is on drugs to suppress his immune system so it doesn't reject the organ, so it may be a long time before he can be back at the chair. Hubby with kitchen shears is not a pretty image. 0 -
Sarah - so sorry about the news of your friend. Also remember how sad/frustrated you get when you only go down .4? It's such a small amount and you'd hoped to see a bigger reduction - so celebrate that it wasn't so high and that it was such a small increase.
Working from home week 3 is now starting to get to me. I'm getting bored more easily and finding it so much more challenging to stay focused. I am making it a habit to walk the block before and after work as well as one additional lap sometime during the day. More for the health points that I receive, but it also does help with my mental frustrations. We held our quarterly company meeting via Zoom this morning. It was fun and a group of us are talking about a Zoom happy hour today or tomorrow. That sounds like FUN! It won't help my calorie intake, but I sure could use a drink and I refuse to drink alone....
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Yea for Zoom happy hours. And I so relate to not being able to focus. I have problems anyway because I go from inbox to inbox all day, but for some reason, now that I'm trapped at home in the evenings, my daytime focus is even worse! Thanks for the reminder to be happy that I'm not gaining a large amount while working all these extra hours. Wish some of your warm weather would come my way. Hubby just came into my office and asked, "Do you want to walk tonight?" I said of course, and he answered, "It's 49 degrees and really damp out there." So I said, "okay--dreadmill night." I saw his smile. He wants to encourage me, but I knew he didn't want to walk outside either. 0
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SW: 156
LW: 130.4
TW: 130.6
I hate the creeping upward trend. I know its the stress eating and drinking.
It's such a treat to see and read all your posts!
I've been MIA because 1. Hubby is always on the computer watching the stock market tank and I can't get on and I hate the small screen on my iPhone and iPad, and 2. I've been on calls with my daughter and vendors trying to figure out a date that they all can change to for the wedding, it's looking like August 23 might work for all, 3. FaceTime talking with my friend who is stuck in Palm Springs, and our mutual friend who's daughter had symptoms and had to have a test (it came back negative, thank God) my grandkids and my sister and, 4. Cleaning the house like a madwoman afraid of this virus. Yesterday we did a grocery store pick up, came home and sanitized everything in the garage. I feel a bit crazy, but everyone tells me this is what we have to do now. Ugh.
Lois, like you with asthma, my kids are scared that I'll get this thing and die. I'm starting to feel like the Jews in Egypt . . maybe painting lamb's blood over my door would help this thing passover our house. Sorry. I don't mean to be sacrilegious. It just feels like a back cloud out there hunting us, lol.
You ladies are my role model with your working from home. . I don't know how you do it. I can't even stay focused on laundry. I really need to turn off the news.
Kelly, I've been hearing all about the difficulties of kids at home combined with working from home. My kids use the "Pomodoro Technique": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
Seems to work for them. I've never used it, but might be worth a try.
Sarah, good job with the dreadmill, and I'll hope for your sake that you don't get put on the Covid response team, but I hope they have some good, dedicated people like you working on it.
Tomorrow is another training day without my trainer.
I've been good about getting it done, but it's no fun. 0 -
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👆🏻What our hair may look like after months of cutting it ourselves.
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Yep. That's probably me around June! LOL At least I don't color, so I don't have roots, but I do not have a cut that cannot survive just growing out on its own. A friend of ours who is a hairdresser sent his clients color and instructions for their hair so they won't resort to boxed color from the CVS, but I notice even he didn't include cutting instructions. Hubby's dad was a barber--the only barber in a very small town in upstate PA--but he never had an interest in that direction. He does, however, love to sharpen things, and he assured me he can sharpen up some scissors for me to use. I reminded him that some kids are the "plays well with others" type. Some are the "runs with scissors" type, and SOME are the "runs at others with scissors" type.
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Zoom happy hour was a success!! Enjoyed a glass of moscato with the ladies and had some funny chatting. Did chat some business as well, but mostly chatting about how we're surviving. Walked home from work last night and somehow tweaked my back mid-stride. Can barely walk today so unsure if I'm going to be able to train today.
Sheesh like I told Sarah - let's celebrate that it wasn't a large jump this week. I know I truly need to pay attention to what I'm consuming...I'm going bonkers. And I'm making sure I wear my button/zipper capris and not my otomix weekend pants that stretch with every move. I'm feeling it. Hoping you finalize a date soon for the wedding. Your weather is still beautiful in late August isn't it?
So on March 8, before the craziness was in full tilt, I jumped online and ordered a case of tp from Costco. After several attempts to order various brands only to be told they were out of stock when going to check out, one was not and it was Cottonelle Professional, so I ordered it. It took over two weeks to get here but no big deal, we weren't that close to being out yet. I've shared a couple of roles with friends. Sunday we went to Costco for meat and chicken and my son asked me to pick him up a pack of tp and paper towels. He wanted his own supply. OK. We were going to give him a bunch of the ones we had ordered but when we were almost done shopping when they unloaded a pallet of kirkland tp. So we grabbed him a pack. He came up and picked it up Tuesday. Well yesterday we had to get into the box of new tp (Cottonelle professional)...this stuff is CRAP. It says two ply, but feels like a thin 1 ply - so maybe 1/2 ply. If you blew your nose with it, you'll end up with crap on your hand it's that horrible. So with working at home indefinitely, we headed out to find me a wireless keyboard and mouse (too lazy to drive to office and get the one off of my desk). Best Buy isn't letting you go into the store so we went to Costco. We found a set - yay! We were also fortunate to get another pack of the kirkland Tp. We now have quality tp!!! Whew. And our washlet toilet seat is due to be delivered today as well. My hiney is going to be happy!!!
Each roll of the Cottonelle Professional is individually wrapped so a thought I had when I opened the box was that fi all settles down quickly and we can stay with our regular tp, I could use in the gift baskets I make. This stuff is horrible!! and I'm so so so glad that I tried it before putting it in the gift baskets to our multi million dollar home buyers. (I usually buy the Marathon tp for the baskets and we're close to needing those as well). Honestly I don't even want to donate the box we bought. Eight rolls are gone out of sixty as we gave some away and the roll we used... What's a gal to do with 52 rolls of crappy toilet paper? Enough about my tp issues.
Kelly I know you're not working for a few more days, hoping you're staying active and doing well. Do you still have snow? We're hitting mid 70s this week.
Oh ladies have you wasted any of your time watching the Tiger King series on Netflix? It's a train wreck..I spent four hours at the suggestion/discussion of other co workers that they were binge-=watching the show. OH Lordy - please don't waste your time. There's not even any good eye candy. Back to Greys Anatomy and Private Practice for me. Though one of the gals last night said Ozark was looking interesting after a couple of episodes.0 -
Re-read my last post and that should have been "I do not have a cut that can survive. . ." But in the scheme of things, I know that how I look is way down the list of important things. Yesterday, I learned that my team lead is being taken for at least a month to work on social media for the COVID-19 response. Today, I saw that Mississippi now has the highest percentage (not number--percentage) of coronavirus cases, and as I may have mentioned, our call center is in Hattiesburg. I feel like I'm sitting next to a time bomb in terms of being pulled to work on the pandemic. But the good news is other than one friend's mother, as far as I know, none of my close circle of family and friends have come down with the virus. Did you read Chris Cuomo's account of his experience with it? That was super scary. Chills and shivering so bad he chipped a tooth!
I worked until 8:30 last night, then made a huge salad for dinner, rested a bit and then hit the treadmill. I was watching a show I taped and when I thought to look at my fitbit for steps, it said 400 and something. At first I thought my fitbit had gone belly-up, but then I realized it was after midnight and that at midnight it had gone back to zero. (My friend Ralph likes to say that--like a fitbit goes to zero--at midnight a day is done, and we have a new chance for a good day. Thank you for that, Ralph.)
I hope we might get some outdoor walking in this weekend. I really need to get out of this house. Today and yesterday have been sunny, but the wind is ripping. We're expecting gusts up to 40 mph today. March weather--not April. I think the weekend is cloudy, but hopefully, not cold and windy. I also want to work on the patio. I don't know if we will get a chance to get to a nursery for ferns and plants this year. I do hope. That's my sanctuary in late spring and early summer.0 -
Hi, Ladies. Just checking in to log the rest of my food for the day and see if anyone had stopped by the message board. I take back that statement about knowing only one person with Covid. My mom's last surviving sibling is an aunt who lives at the Kentucky/Indiana border. Her granddaughter is physician assistant who now has COVID and so does her grandson. The two young people don't live together so I'm not sure if one passed to the other, just that they both have it.
I took the entire day off work today and didn't even log in to check over things. I needed a complete break and I got one. Instead I cleaned and talked to friends--some by phone and some by zoom--and then we watched Knives Out. Good movie. And now I'm ready for bed. It's freaking 1 a.m. I have to stop this!
Hope all is well with all of you and your families and friends.0 -
Happy Monday ladies!!! Just got to my "desk" from my walk. I was chatting with a co-worker as she had decided last week she's like to join me on my "walk to work". and today i saw TWO people out walking at the same time. Not even close enough to be in chatting distance, but I was happy to see a couple of others out in the morning. I added an extra block and now got in one mile to start my day.
Before all of this chaos started, we had ordered a washlet seat from Costcto...it finally arrived Saturday and hubby installed it yesterday. MIL is going to like it I think. We had been looking at them or a whole set as my daughter and hubby kept going on and on about the freshness of their systems in Japan. So I took a chance. I first ordered the super cheap one so that we'd have one in all bathrooms, but it was backordered so I ordered the upgraded one. Kind of glad we have it now with all of the dang chaos.
The weekend was horrible. I got into such a funk.I have plenty of things to do around the house that I should not be bored, but I am in such a grump funk and can't break it.
Well, time to get to work. Have a great day ladies!!!
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Good Monday morning! Lois, I've been fighting the grumpy funk also. Today is my son's 38th birthday, and we would probably be in Cali if not for this nightmare, so I'm blue. I think it's a great idea to "walk to work" and I'm so glad you're doing it, and being a role model for others too. I have to ask, is a washlet seat like a bidet? I've thought about getting one. Are they hard to install?
Sarah, you're being very consistent with your late night treadmill walks. . good job. Getting our movement is more important than ever right now. It sounds like the burden of this outbreak is beginning to weigh on your workload. It seems impossible that you would be required to do even more than you already do. I'm glad you took a complete break. Knives Out is a good movie. We saw in the theater . . . I miss the movies!
We had another "happy hour" party Friday on Zoom with our family! It was very fun, and very apparent that everyone misses each other so much! Our daughter announced to family that she and her fiancé officially changed the wedding date to August 23rd. It's so disappointing because she is getting anxious to start a family, in addition to her adorable step daughter. They might go ahead and get married on June 7 at the courthouse, and then just have a mock ceremony in August. They were joking that her dress may need more alterations in the tummy area in August. She jokes, but I know she is so sad and frustrated.
DIL planned a surprise Zoom birthday party for our son tonight. At her request we recorded a video message of special memories of him, and sent it to her yesterday. She's compiling videos together as a gift to him. Hubby and I heard about a fun idea we are planning to do on Tuesday for our date day. . we're going to get dressed up, and I'll go out and ring the doorbell, pretending to come to "his place" for dinner. We're gong to get a nice dinner delivered, drink some wine, do some slow dancing, and maybe watch a downloaded movie. LOL!
I got a workout done yesterday . . aerobic dance plus a 30 minute jog on the treadmill. Since I'm still paying my trainer, I've kept up on resistance workouts and texted her the written out moves . . I have to do that again today. Today is the second time I've paid my cleaning ladies even though they're not coming . . so we also need to clean the house. Argh. Lots to do, so I better get going. Next time, I'll post a scary story about my neighbor.0 -
Sheesh - yes, the washlet is like a bidet. Hubby installed in under 30 minutes! He didn't come down and complain at all...he was so quiet when he did come down, I thought he'd thrown in the towel. When I was headed to use the restroom, he told me to go upstairs and try it out!! I was so proud of him. And yes, so nice. Now i know what my daughter was saying. THe one we ordered is the Brondell Swash CL 950 - it even blows your hooha dry! The only downside is that we can only use it one of the bathrooms and the cord actually crosses across the back of the tank. It was on sale for $200 - well worth the price the first day of using it. lol. I would like one in each restroom...lol. SO if those others ever get in stock and delivered, we may keep them. My MIL will love it when she gets here - the electric one is in the kids bath that she uses when she's here. The battery operated ones have the controls on the side and I'm not sure I'd want her twisting to get to it and it won't have the drier function.
Happy your daughter has a new date. My daughter and SIL got married two years before their actual wedding (just before he deployed for the 2nd time). No one will fault them for doing it...and my kids love having two dates... Maybe then the first dress will fit after all
Just looking for an upside..
Sarah - I'm in bed at midnight. I have no idea how you can be on the treadmill at that hour. More power to you.
Kelly - you're awful quiet again.
Sheesh I'm kinda be a little jelly of your cleaning team - hubby is allowing the landscapers (that we hired for ONLY during the time he recovered from hip surgery several years ago and we still have). He has such an issue with anyone coming into the house and cleaning up after him (except me of course). I did it a couple of times and while I LOVED the way they did it all for me, it was not worth the arguments and frustration with hubby - so he does do the bathrooms and vacuums the stairs. I have most of the rest of the house but yeah. One day....(dreams haha). Landscapers and pest control are the only services that no longer bother him.
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Sorry I've been quiet. I'm back on shift today and posting becomes much easier when I'm on a computer. I've lost way too many posts when I've tried to post from my phone. I do read what everyone has to say on the week when I'm not posting though.
We're running low on fresh foods, so the hubby is heading to the store in the morning. I have made him quite the list. Except for going for walks when I don't see anyone, I haven't left the house or been in public since March 20. That's absolutely insane for me. While I am a home body, I do enjoy just walking around malls and stores to get out. Plus I do like to eat and drink at restaurants. This cooking from home thing every day is difficult, as I'm running out of interesting ideas and it seems like everything is starting to taste the same. I know.. I know.. poor me. lol I do LOVE the idea you and your husband have Sheesh of ordering in and having a date. We might have to try that out.
OMG Sheesh.. You just left me hanging with wanting to know the scary story about your neighbour! And Lois.. you made me almost spit out my water when you said hooha lol Too funny.
The kids are back at our house tomorrow and Spring Break is over, so that should be fun
The weeks when I'm working are so difficult when the kids have school work to do too. Hopefully we get them on a bit of a schedule and it'll get easier. 0 -
Kelly, all our friends with kids are saying the same thing--that is harder than you could imagine trying to coordinate online and video school work and work, too. We chatted with some friends last night who said their 4 year old burst into Mom's office during a video conference wearing only half his clothes. And unfortunately, it was the bottom half!
Our neighbor who is a teacher visited from the road while we sitting out front the other day and she said it's super hard for teachers to lesson plan for video, too. I complain about being stuck at a desk for 10 hours and then not able to get out and go anywhere, but it sounds like I have it made compared to the parents and teachers.
I'm waiting on that scary story, too, Sheesh. We had a little scare this morning but don't know what yet what was going on. Hubby went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and he said once he was out of the cul-de-sacs and up to the main road there were cops everywhere, including canine cops. It was all quiet on our street, but hubby called me and said "Stay vigilant, as they might be looking for someone."
Yesterday was a lovely day--sunny with just a little chill to the air--so I took a late lunch break and hubby and I did the hilly outside walk. Today we're back to storms, though. I have no idea what the scale will say tomorrow. Last night I baked a triple ginger cake with lemon glaze. It was so good, but pushed me right up to the edge with my intake even though I burned more than 300 extra calories on that walk. It's the first thing I've baked in I can't tell you when. This is what staying home does!
Lois, when you mentioned being in a funk, I thought--yes, corona funk! I think it's getting all of us some of the time. I will find myself feeling cranky,but if you asked me why, I would not be able to put a finger on an exact cause, other than every day is the same now. Work, eat, a few household chores,a little TV, treadmill, and then bed. Arghhhhhh The video chats with friends does help, and we're doing that a couple of times a week. But darn--I look so old in those videos. Hubby says it's the lighting. Isn't he sweet?
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